Apparatus for producing z-folded web material



Dec. 13, 1966 CQUZENS ET AL 3,291,478

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING Z-FOLDED WEB MATERIAL Filed May 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 M/VE/VTO/PS. REG/WALD cauzmvs w M/CHAL M. you/v6 ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 13, 1966 R. COUZENS ETAL 3,291,478

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING Z-FOLDED WEB MATERIAL Filed May 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS.

REGINALD COUZE/VS MICHAEL M. YOU/VG A 7 TOR/V575.

Dec. 13, 1966 R CQUZENS ET AL 3,291,478

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING Z-FOLDED WEB MATERIAL Filed May 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 M/CHAEL M YOU/VG ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 13, 1966 ouz s ET AL 3,291,478

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ZFOLDED WEB MATERIAL Filed May 25, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /Nl/EN7'0/?5. REGINALD COUZE/VS MICHAEL M. YOU/V6 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Office 3,291,478 APIARATUS FOR PRGDUQING Z-FULDED WEB MATERIAL Reginald Couzens, Waliingford, Pa., and Michael M. Young, Philadelphia, Pa. (both Deitz Machine Works, 3105 W. Allegheny Ave., Philadelphia, Pa.)

Filed May 25, 1964, Ser. No. 369,730 4 Claims. (Cl. 27040) This invention relates to apparatus for producing Z- folded material. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus for producing a rope of a Z-folded orientated webs of a cellulose material such as facial tissues.

The present invention includes the provision of a plurality of devices for supporting rolls of web material -and a separate means for continuously and simultaneously folding the web material of each roll into J-folded webs. At spaced points along the production line, folding pans are provided for folding the free edge of a ]-fold web over a folded edge of a previously formed web. The webs are superimposed over one another to form a rope supported by a moving belt. The rolls are supported for rotation about axes in line with one another and parallel to the direction of the movement of the belt.

The apparatus of the present invention preferably includes two manufacturing lines. The rope of each manufacturing line is conveyed to a point wherein the ropes are superimposed over each other and then fed to a cutting device which cuts the rope into unit lengths suitable for boxing. The apparatus is designed for continuous use whereby the combined rope may be manufactured at speeds suflicient to produce approximately 250 boxes of facial tissue per minute.

In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for supporting a plurality of rolls of web material at s aced points along the manufacturing line. A shaping plow is provided at spaced points along the manufacturing line for folding the web material from each roll to provide the same with a J-fold and associate the J-folded web material in superimposed relation to form a rope. Initially, adjacent layers of the J-folded web material have a free edge on opposite sides of and projecting beyond a side of the rope. A separate folding pan is provided for folding each projecting free edge portion. Each folding pan is constructed and arranged to fold a free edge of the I-folded web material around the folded edge of the next adjacent J-folded web material.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for producing a rope of Z-folded web material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus for folding, associating I-folded layers of web material to form a rope of interleaved Z-folded web material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus and method for producing foided associated layers of facial tissue in a manner which does not require the lifting up of a previously formed fold in order to associate the layers of web material with respect to each other.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial perspective view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a top plan View of a folding pan.

3,291,478 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 FIGURE 4 is an end view of the folding pan taken along the line 4-4 in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 55 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded diagrammatic view illustrating the interleaving and associating of Z-folded layers of web material produced by the apparatus of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a partial top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention designated generally as 10.

The apparatus 10 includes a first manufacturing line 11 and a second manufacturing line 13. The manufacturing line 11 produces a rope 12 and manufacturing line 13 produces a rope 14. The ropes 12 and 14- are superimposed over one another to form a combined rope 16 which is fed to a cutter device 18 which cuts the rope 16 into unit lengths which are then subsequently boxed.

The manufacturing lines 11 and 13 are identical. Hence, for the purposes of the present invention it is deemed sufiicient to only describe manufacturing line 11. Corresponding elements of manufacturing line 13 may be illustrated with primed numerals. Manufacturing line 11 is of substantial length, such as to 200 feet long depending upon the number of layers desired in the rope 16. For example, if rope 16 is to be 200 layers of web material, manufacturing line 11 will have 100 stations. Each of the even numbered stations of each manufacturing line are identical and each of the odd numbered stations of each manufacturing line are identical. Since no useful purpose is attained by illustrating call 100 stations, it is believed that the illustration of 3 stations is sufiicient. At each station, here is provided a roll of web material. For example, in FIGURE 1 the manufacturing line 11 is illustrated as including rolls 20, 22 and 24 of web material. Each of the rolls of web material are in line with one another.

The station at which roll 20 is disposed is identical with the station at which roll 24 is disposed. The station at which roll 22 is disposed is identical with the station (not shown) to the right of roll 24 in FIGURE 1. Thus, it is deemed sufficient for the purposes of the present invention to only describe in detail the stations which difier from one another, namely the stations at which are located the rolls 22 and 24.

Roll 261 contains web material 26, roll 22 contains web material 28, and roll 24 contains web material 30. The rolls of web material are supported by a frame having a air of brackets. Per se, the supporting frame and brackets for the roll form no part of the present invention and it is not deemed necessary to illustrate or describe the same further. The web material 30 is unwound from the roll 2 and extends around an idler roller 32 disposed along the righthand side of the rope 12 in FIGURE 5. The rope 12 is conveyed to the point where it merges with rope 14 by means of a belt 31. Any convenient means may be provided to drive the belt such as a rack and pinion or by means of a crown pulley (not shown).

The web material St is unwound from the roll 24, pulled over the idler roller 32 and a shaping plow 34 by means of a pair of drive rollers 36 (see FIGURES 2 and 5). The drive rollers 36 are constructed and arranged so as to be driven by a common motor which moves the belt 31 and drives the rollers 36 at the same linear rate of speed.

Below the drive rollers 36, the web 30 is fed around an idler roller 38 and thereafter superimposed on top of the rope 12. The shaping plow 34 folds the web 30 so that it is a J-folded web having a flap 49, a folded edge 42 and a free edge 44. The thusly J-folded web 30 is superimposed over a Z-folded web 46 having a flap 48 and a folded edge 50.

A folding pan 52 is provided between the station having roll 24 and the station having roll 22. As shown more clearly in FIGURES 2-4, the folding pan 52 has a bottom 56, curved side edges 54 and 62, and spaced overlapping leaves. The uppermost leaf designated by the numeral 64 has a free edge 60 and the middle leaf designated by the numeral 66 has a free edge 58.

The side edge 54 of the folding pan 52 extends along a median line on the rope 12. The edges 66* and 62 are parallel to one another and converge toward the median line of the rope 12. Thus, the folding pan 52 is tapered so that its outlet end 65 is smaller than its inlet end. At the inlet end of the folding pan 52, the middle leaf 66 is provided with a tip 68 which is curved downwardly toward the plane of the bottom 56. The folding pan 52 is adapted to be supported by a mounting plate 70. The folding pan 52 may be made from any convenient material such as sheet metal, thermoplastic resins, etc. The surfaces of the folding pan 52 which are to be in contact with the web material of the rope 12 are preferably smooth polished surfaces.

A longitudinally extending half of the web 46 will overlie the middle leaf 66 so that the folded edge 50 on said web 46 passes between the leaves 64 and 66. The web 30 will overlie the web 46 and the middle leaf 66. The free edge 44 of the web 30 will extend beyond the folded edge 50 of the web 46. The folding pan 52 is supported so that the free edge 44 on the web 30 contacts the curved side edge 62 and is folded thereby so as to extend around the folded edge 50 on the web 46. Thus, the folding pan 52 converts the J-folded web 30 to a Z-folded web and associates the thusly formed web 30 with the web 46. Thus, the Web 30 will have a folded edge 69 on the opposite side of the rope 12 from its folded edge 42.

The web 28 is unwound from the roll 22, extended around idler roller 72, is shaped by a shaping plow 74 into a J-folded web, and then is passed between driving rollers 76. Thus, the web 28 will have a flap 78, a folded edge 80, and a free edge 82 as shown more clearly in FIGURE 2. Below the driving roller 76, the thusly formed web 28 is fed around an idler roller 84 and superimposed over the Z-shaped web 30 on the rope 12. The folded edge 80 will be aligned with the folded edge 69. The free edge 82 will extend beyond the folded edge 42.

A folding pan 86 is provided between the stations containing rolls 20 and 22 successive folding pans throughout the machine are of opposite hand. Folding pan 86 is identical with folding pan 52, except that the former is a mirror image of the latter. Thus, a straight curved edge of the folding pan 86 is disposed longitudinally of the rope 12 and along a median line thereof.

The web 46 passes beneath the fol-ding pan S6. The folded edge 42 on the web 30 passes between the middle and top leaves of the folding pan 86 and below the lefthand edge portion of the web 28. The free edge 82 of the web 28 will be folded over the edge 42 by the folding pan 86. Due to the disposition of the folding pan 86, the righthand side of the web 30 does not overlie the same.

In FIGURE 5, there is illustrated the disposition of the free edges 44 and 82 before they enter their respective folding pans 52 and 86. As shown in FIGURE 5, the folding pan 52 will cause the free edge 44 to assume the phantom position illustrated at 44. Likewise, folding pan 86 will cause the free edge 82 to assume the phantom position designated 82.

As shown more clearly in FIGURE 1, the ropes 12 and 14, respectively, have their direction and elevation changed by guides 88 and 90. Thus, the ropes 12 and 14 are now moving toward each other and are superimposed over each other by the guide 92.

In FIGURE 6, there is an exploded diagrammatic illustration of the Z-folded webs 28, 30 and 46. When the thusly associated webs are disposed within a box having an opening through which the webs will be withdrawn, withdrawal is initiated by grasping the flap 78 and pulling the web 28 through the opening. As a result thereof, web 30 will be partially drawn through the opening. When web 30 is drawn through the opening, web 46 will be disposed in a position wherein it is partially drawn through the opening.

Each of the folding pans are concerned with layers at different levels of the ropes 12 and 14. In order to simplify the support of the pans, the belt 31 and the ropes 12 and 14 preferably travel downwardly as the height of the ropes increases. In this manner, each mounting plates may lie in the same plane and be connected to support structure extending alongside of the ropes 12 and 14.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

It is claimed:

1. Apparatus comprising a conveyor means for conveying a rope formed from superimposed layers of cellulose product, means for supporting a plurality of rolls of web material, means associated with each roll for folding one edge of the web material from each roll with a ]-fold, means for associating each folded web into superimposed relation to a preceding folded web, said associating means including a separate folding pan associated with each folding means, each folding pan being constructed and arranged to fold the free edge of said web material around the folded edge of the next adjacent J-folded web to thereby form a rope of interleaved webs, successive folding pans being of opposite hand, said means for supporting a plurality of rolls of web material including means for supporting said rolls so that said rolls are rotatable about an axis parallel to the direction of movement of the rope by the conveyor means, rollers mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said rolls, said rollers being disposed above said conveyor means, wherein even numbered ones of said rollers are in line with one another, odd numbered ones of said rollers are in line With one another, said even numbered rollers and said odd numbered rollers being offset with respect to each other, and each layer of web material extending around one of said rollers.

2. Apparatus comprising a conveyor means for conveying a rope formed from superimposed layers of a cellulose product, means for feeding J-folded web material onto said rope at spaced points along said conveyor means, means intermediate adjacent ones of said spaced points for enveloping a folded edge on one layer of web material with a free edge portion of the next adjacent layer of web material to provide a rope of Z-shaped folded web material so that each layer of web material is interleaved with the next adjacent layer of web material thereabove and therebelow, said folding means including a plurality of separate folding pans alternately disposed on opposite sides of the conveyor means and partially overlapping the conveyor means, each folding pan having spaced substantially parallel overlapping leaves, one of which is integral with a curved edge, said curved edge being disposed at an angle with respect to and extending outwardly from a side edge of the rope, means for supporting a roll of each layer of web material so that the rolls are rotatable about an axis parallel to the direction of movement of the rope by the conveyor means, rollers mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said rolls, said rollers being disposed above said conveyor means, odd numbered one of said rollers being in line with one another, even numbered one of said rollers being in line with each other and offset with respect to the odd numbered rollers, and

each layer of web material extending around one of said rollers.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein the rolls of Web material are all positioned on the same side of the rope.

4. Apparatus comprising a conveyor means for conveying a rope formed from superimposed layers of a cellulose product, means for feeding J-folding web material onto said rope at spaced points along said conveyor means, means intermediate adjacent ones of said spaced points for enveloping a folded edge on one layer of web material with a free edge portion of the next adjacent layer of web material to provide a rope of Z-shaped folded web material so that each layer of web material is interleaved with the next adjacent layer of web material thereabove and therebelow, said folding means including a plurality of separate folding pans alternately disposed on opposite sides of the conveyor means and partially overlapping the conveyor means, each folding pan having spaced substantially parallel overlapping leaves, one of said leaves having a curved edge, said curved edge being disposed at .an angle with respect to a side edge of the rope, the width of said pan at its inlet end from said curved edge to an opposite edge of the pan being wider than the corresponding width of said pan at its outlet end, the width of said pan at its outlet end corresponding substantially to the width of the rope.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,992,179 2/1935 Blosser et al 270-94 X 2,642,279 6/1953 Teall 270-40 3,199,861 8/1965 Presnell et al. 27040 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. N. M. ELLISON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS COMPRISING A CONVEYOR MEANS FOR CONVEYING A ROPE FORMED FROM SUPERIMPOSED LAYERS OF CELLULOSE PRODUCT, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A PLURALITY OF ROLL OF WEB MATERIAL, MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH ROLL FOR FOLDING ONE EDGE OF THE WEB MATERIAL FROM EACH ROLL WITH A J-FOLD, MEANS FOR ASSOCIATING EACH FOLDED WEB INTO SUPERIMPOSED RELATION TO A PRECEDING FOLDED WEB, SAID ASSOCIATING MEANS INCLUDING A SEPARATE FOLDING PAN ASSOCIATED WITH EACH FOLDING MEANS, EACH FOLDING PAN BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO FOLD THE FREE EDGE OF SAID WEB MATERIAL AROUND THE FOLDED EDGE OF THE NEXT ADJACENT J-FOLDED WEB TO THEREBY FORM A ROPE OF INTERLEAVED WEBS, SUCCESSIVE FOLDING PANS BEING OF OPPOSITE HAND, SAID MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A PLURALITY OF ROLLS OF WEB MATERIAL INCLUDING MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROLLS SO THAT SAID ROLLS ARE ROTATABLE ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF THE ROPE BY THE CONVEYOR MEANS, ROLLERS MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF SAID ROLLS, SAID ROLLERS BEING DISPOSED ABOVE SAID CONVEYOR MEANS, WHEREIN EVEN NUMBERED ONES OF SAID ROLLERS ARE IN LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER, ODD NUMBERED ONES OF SAID ROLLERS ARE IN LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER, SAID EVEN NUMBERED ROLLERS AND SAID ODD NUMBERED ROLLERS BEING OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER, AND EACH LAYER OF WEB MATERIAL MATERIAL EXTENDING AROUND ONE OF SAID ROLLERS. 